LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas lottery announced Monday that it has seen a little growth in sales of Powerball and Mega Millions and that its sales for the most recent year were up $10 million.

The lottery had sales of $474 million for the 2012 fiscal year, which ended Saturday. Lottery Director Bishop Woosley said he anticipates the lottery will be able to fund more college scholarships than last year.

“I don’t want to get ahead of our financial people, but I think we’re going to see a healthy total for this year’s scholarship fund,” Woosley said.

The lottery had $92.2 million available for scholarships after the 2011 fiscal year. For 2012, the pot will be sweetened with $2 million from the lottery’s instant ticket vendor, Scientific Games. The payment is part of a renegotiated contract the sides agreed to in June.

The agency said it will know how much will be available for scholarships from the just-concluded fiscal year on July 10. Through 11 months, the lottery had a profit of $81.7 million.

Woosley has been working to promote sales of draw games, including Powerball and Mega Millions, because those games have a higher profit margin than instant tickets, which remain by far the most popular choice among Arkansas players.

Still, the numbers show growth in the proportional sales of draw tickets. The prior year, 15.9 percent of sales were spent on numbers games.

“We’ve done a little better in the sale of our more profitable draw tickets. Three years of experience has taught us how to best focus advertising dollars and the preferences of Arkansas players,” Woosley said.

The lottery was launched in September 2009, and Woosley said Arkansas residents are becoming more familiar with how to play the games.

Qualifying students attending four-year schools get $4,500 per year in scholarship money. Those attending two-year colleges get $2,250. Legislators say they expect to retool the formula for how scholarships are awarded in the regular session that starts in January. Of particular concern is the volume of students who don’t retain their scholarships.

Students need to sustain a 2.5 grade-point average and take a minimum number of credit hours to keep their scholarships.

Lottery Commission Chairman Ben Pickard noted the increase in sales came during a period of upheaval for the lottery. The lottery’s initial director, Ernie Passailaigue, resigned in September. The top two deputies he brought from South Carolina also departed, with one resigning and the other being fired.

The lottery was also working to correct issues raised in a highly critical state audit of the lottery’s finances under Passailaigue.

“I commend the great work of the lottery staff for getting through a difficult year and keeping their eye on the ball to get this done. All of us know our only mission is to maximize scholarship dollars,” Pickard said.